Telemedicine

Telemedicine involves the use of advanced telecommunications technology to consult on, review, or diagnose medical conditions and to carry out medical education and training at a distance. Telemedicine is made possible through the use of telephone lines, Internet connections, video conferencing, and the transmission of electronic images gathered by digital diagnostic equipment and video cameras.

    On December 4, 1998 UPLIFT International successfully completed the first telemedicine link between Vietnam and the United States. UPLIFT International, in partnership with the University of Vermont College of Medicine/Fletcher Allen Healthcare, flawlessly demonstrated state-of-the-art telemedicine technology via live video linkage. UPLIFT International has demonstrated the wide-ranging capabilities of telemedicine in the first ever realtime telemedicine link between the U.S. and Vietnam via PC-based video conferencing, advanced telecommunications, and digital medical imaging technologies.

      The December 4^th telemedicine demonstration showed the capabilities of telemedicine, from observing open heart surgery and directly viewing endoscopy and ultrasound examinations, to carrying out real-time long distance physician consultations and patient examinations. The demo linked University of Vermont affiliated hospitals and clinics in Vermont and eastern New York with participation sites in Hanoi and Washington, D.C. Newsmedia, government dignitaries, physicians, and other interested parties attended the telemedicine demo at sites in Burlington, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and Hanoi. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy and Vietnamese Ambassador Le Van Bang participated in the telemedicine demo from Washington, D.C.

The Program

        UPLIFT International’s Telemedicine Program is a means to improve the level of medical education in Vietnam, expose American medical students and physicians to conditions not often encountered in the U.S. to enhance their education and training, to allow Vietnamese medical students and physicians to participate in more cutting-edge training and technology, and to foster exchanges and cooperation between the medical communities in the U.S. and Vietnam. The Telemedicine Program will allow the "virtual" exchange of students and doctors from both countries, in addition to encouraging more regular contacts.   

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